Chester Mayor Stefan Roots said his city has “moved on” from a proposed gas export terminal in or near Chester.
“This dangerous facility does not belong in a densely populated urban area like Chester,” he said during a Wednesday hearing at Chester City Hall before the Pennsylvania House Environmental & Natural Resource Protection Committee.
“Protect some of the most vulnerable people in this commonwealth and say no to an LNG terminal in this region.”
The mayor joined environmentalists in protest against a yearlong plan by Penn LNG to build a liquefied natural gas facility in Chester City or in nearby Trainer, Marcus Hook, or Eddystone, writes Frank Kummer for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The terminal would compress gas from an existing pipeline tied to the Marcellus and Utica formations for export to Europe.
Opponents said the facility would pollute and that it lacks a sufficient safety buffer if there was a fire or explosion.
Franc James, CEO of Penn LNG, and union leaders were invited to the hearing but declined, according to committee chair Democratic State Rep. Greg Vitali.
In the past, they’ve pointed to the facility’s potential for an economic boost and jobs.
Vitali convened the hearing, concerned that the project would “proceed under the radar without sufficient public scrutiny.”
Read more about the proposed LNG facility in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
